Lauren Graham Defends the Gilmore Girls Paul Situation

We're left with plenty of lingering questions now that we've all had a chance to watch all four episodes of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, but at a SAG-AFTRA panel on Tuesday, Nov. 29, Lauren Graham weighed in on one of the more pressing issues from the revival: what the heck was up with the Gilmores' treatment of Rory's poor, neglected boyfriend, Paul (Jack Carpenter)?

Instead of an actual character, Paul was more a punchline than anything. The Ann Veal of Gilmore Girls, if you will. (Raise your hand if you're now mad about the missed opportunity for an Ann/egg/bland joke with Mae Whitman here. Come on!) But Graham said that she hasn't really read any of the feedback about the Gilmores' negative treatment of him.

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"We don't pay attention to anything. We don't know. None of us are on the internet almost at all. I know what you mean [about the Gilmores constantly insulting him], but the show has a sense of humor and that's its sense of humor," she said in the panel, which was livestreamed to Facebook.

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Rather than examine how Paul was treated, Graham said she considered it a joke above all else. "I just thought it was a funny runner. The whole show has a kind of heightened theatrical quality," she said, later adding, "To me, it was just more of a metaphor that this isn't the right guy and this is how they communicate about it."

Costar Scott Patterson had an even simpler take on the whole situation: "Paul was the sacrificial lamb and he knew it," he said. "The audience knew it!"

What did you think of the Gilmore women's treatment of Rory's apparently unimpressive boyfriend? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!